Germany's Ernst Ruska Center and FEI Join in Partnership Program

The Center's development project with FEI will advance sub-atomic resolution
electron microscopy for analyzing atoms and their bonds

HILLSBORO, Ore., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FEI Company
(Nasdaq: FEIC) announced today that Germany's leading national center for
Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons -- the Ernst Ruska Center -- has
selected FEI Company as a partner for developing the next era of analytical
microscopy. A 300kV Scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM)
purchased by the Ernst Ruska Center will deliver integrated capabilities for
imaging and chemical analysis of matter with ultimate resolutions crossing the
1-Angstrom barrier. One Angstrom is one-tenth of a nanometer, approximately
one-third the size of a carbon atom, and is a key dimension for atomic level
research.

This ultra-high resolution S/TEM system and developed applications will
open doors for researchers to study morphology, crystallography, elemental and
chemical composition, as well as electronic structure at resolution levels not
demonstrated before in a single advanced instrument. Moreover, with the
ability to look between atoms, researchers will be able to study the chemical
nature of atoms and what holds them together. This advanced S/TEM features a
proprietary FEI platform for aberration corrected microscopy and advanced
optics. Its design meets the stringent demand of ultra high stability to allow
resolutions well below 1 Angstrom, for transmission and scanning probe
operation (STEM), in one system. The microscope can be operated up to 300kV
for ultimate brightness, current and resolution, delivering the best imaging
and analysis performance available.

"It is our mission to provide German users with cutting-edge equipment in
atomic resolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy which, due to the
advent of aberration-corrector technology, has become one of the most
innovative fields of analytical instrumentation," commented Professor Dr. Knut
Urban, the president of the German physical society and co-director of the
recently established Ernst Ruska Center. "FEI has proven to be an
international key player in this area. The partnership with FEI will allow us
to stay at the forefront of instrumental development."

Professor Dr. Joachim Mayer, co-director of the Center added: "Electron
Microscopy is making a quantum leap towards an experimental technique in which
the information on an atomic object is no longer limited by the optical
qualities of the instrument. Physicists and materials scientists worldwide are
looking forward to carrying out high-precision measurements on properties of
atomic structures urgently needed in nanosciences. FEI technology will allow
the Ernst Ruska Center's users to exploit these fascinating possibilities."

"We are proud to be selected by Germany's leading center for ultra-high
resolution analytical microscopy," said Vahe' Sarkissian, FEI's chairman,
president and chief executive officer. "FEI remains the world leader in high
resolution imaging and analysis and an important enabler for the world's
growing nanotechnology applications. In every market we serve, we are
delivering the tools needed to research and develop new nanoscale products and
devices. We believe that this relationship will result in important
breakthroughs for advanced microscopy."

In March of this year, FEI announced the first-ever sub-Angstrom
resolution obtained on a commercially available 200 kV TEM. Recognizing the
scientific demand for aberration corrected TEM/STEM applications, FEI has
developed an advanced TEM/STEM 300 kV system that achieves sub-angstrom
resolution without the aid of correctors or a monochromator. Going forward,
this new system will also be available with aberration correctors and a
monochromator. The addition of these technologies on such an advanced platform
will bring nanoscience into routine sub-angstrom research, providing
researchers and manufacturers greater access to the sub-nanoscale.

About FEI

FEI's Tools for Nanotech™, featuring focused ion- and electron-beam
technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification
capabilities with resolution down to the level. With R&D centers in North
America and Europe, and sales and service operations in more the 40 countries
around the world, FEI is bringing the nanoscale within the grasp of leading
researchers and manufacturers and helping to turn some of the biggest ideas of
the this century into reality. More information can be found on the FEI
website at: www.feicompany.com

About Ernst Ruska Center (ER-C)

The ER-C for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons is jointly
operated by the Research Center Juelich and the Technical University of
Aachen, under the auspices of the German Science Foundation and the joint
directorship of Professors Knut Urban and Joachim Mayer. The Center unites two
groups, at Aachen and Juelich, with the largest instrumental and personnel
resources in the field of electron microscopy in Germany. Operated as a user
facility, the Center provides German universities, research laboratories and
industry with the most advanced high-resolution and analytical electron
microscopy using monochromators, analytical energy filters and aberration
corrector elements. The main fields of activity comprehend the analysis of
nanostructured ceramics, metals, semiconductors and oxide superconductors
together with lattice defects. For more information visit: www.er-c.org.